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A woman claims she was forced to wait on a trolley in an ‘overflow’ corridor for 31 hours before she could have an urgent operation for something that should have taken 10 minutes.

Mum-of-two Helen Burton, 33, arrived at overstretched Worcestershire Royal Hospital at 5pm on April 15 needing treatment for an abscess on her leg.

She says she wasn’t seen until 4pm the following day due to a lack of beds and by that time she was in ‘excruciating pain’ because the abscess had ruptured.

Helen, of Alvechurch, Worcestershire, said: ‘I spent that whole time on a trolley and the abscess ruptured overnight so I was in a lot of pain.

‘At one point we were in an overflow for the overflow area, whilst others were being treated in ambulances.

‘After my surgery I ended up on a make-shift ward, they opened up the recovery room and they set it up as a ward.

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‘When I first got there a theatre assistant was being made to do tea rounds, they didn’t even have tables we had to put our stuff on stools.’

Helen Burton should have had a ten minute treatment but ended up staying in hospital for 31 hours overnight which she claims made her injury worse (Picture: SWNS)

Helen said she wants the government held to account for the impact of cuts to the NHS (Picture: SWNS)

Helen with children Jessica (right), 4 and Amelie, 6 (Picture: SWNS)

Helen claimed there was ‘no food or medical supplies’ in the room she was kept in so they had to ‘borrow sandwiches from A&E just to feed us’.

‘They were trying their best to get people beds, they just don’t have proper ward space,’ Helen said.

‘The theatre assistant said to me he wanted to do his job properly, he wanted to give people better care.

‘But he wasn’t able to because bursaries for doctors have been cut and they’re having to make do with what they have got.

‘My frustration about the whole thing is that if I hadn’t been made to wait 31 hours then they might have been able to sort out my abscess before it ruptured.’

Helen with partner Matthew Nye, 38 (Picture: SWNS)

Helen, who is now recovering at home, says she will be writing to the patient advice and liaison service (PALS) to complain about cuts to public services.

She said: ‘I’ll be writing to PALS and our local MPs, but I want to thank each and every person who gets up and works in these conditions; keeping everything going for the people that need it, whilst being failed by the people who should be governing.

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‘Austerity has taken it’s tole and funding seems to be found for other things than our public services.

‘I can’t blame the front-line staff, I don’t know how much they can do if they haven’t got the funds or powers to change things, so ultimately I guess the Government do have to be held to account.

‘The staff that cared for me have been outstanding, dedicated and nothing short of superheroes.

‘I’ve seen doctors, nurses and the rest of the team battling to serve in overcrowded conditions with minimal resources.’

Worcestershire Royal Hospital is facing very high levels of demand (Picture: Getty)

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, chief executive Matthew Hopkins said: ‘In common with many Trusts locally and nationally, we continue to face very high levels of demand for all our services and in particular urgent care services.

‘Despite our best efforts, this does mean that patients are having to wait longer to be seen and admitted than we would wish.

‘Any delay in a patient’s care is deeply regrettable and we apologise to anyone who has faced longer waits for diagnosis or treatment as a result.’